


In Medias Res

by MarsFlameSniper



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 18:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20030173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsFlameSniper/pseuds/MarsFlameSniper
Summary: The moments that matter are often hidden underneath the ones that don't.Commission for Niijimaki on Tumblr





	In Medias Res

The wind howled around her, whipping her hair in a frenzy around her face. In the distance, a storm began to stir, the first drops of what would soon be a heavy downfall pattered on the ground, but Ann was resolute. Her eyes never wavered from the figure before her. This had to happen now, come what may. Harsh breaths were lost to the coming storm around them, she'd run as fast as she could to catch up before they left for good.

“You're here, what's wrong?” they asked her.

“I couldn't let you leave...not without telling you,” she panted. Her eyes began to sting, but she scrubbed at them with the back of her hand and stepped forward. “Hiroki...I love you. I've loved you for as long as I can remember and I know you have to go but please...tell me you love me back.”

Thunder crashed through the sky as Hiroki stepped forwards.

“I've waited so long to her those words from you. I can't tell you how long.”

Suddenly his arms were around her and Ann gasped, her head tipping back to look into his eyes. Involuntarily, she shivered at the intensity she saw there. Ann rose up to meet him, her eyes closing.

His lips touched hers and the sensation caused her to flinch, a grimace crossing her face.

“Oh my god,” Hiroki growled, “Takamaki, again?” He unwrapped his arms and Ann stepped back, unable to meet his frustrated gaze. She turned to look off the stage, shrugging apologetically to the head of Shujin's drama club, who simply buried her head in her hands and yelled “Cut!”

It had been, in short, another disastrous rehearsal.

When she'd seen that the drama club were planning on putting on a play and were looking for cast members from outside of the club, Ann had jumped at the chance to be involved. In the past, she'd had very little interest in applying herself to things like acting or being more serious with her modelling work. But since meeting Akira and Mika, she'd begun to apply herself to these fields more, realising she couldn't live on minimum effort for her entire life.

Perhaps it was a lot to juggle, what with her school life, job, and moonlight ventures as a Phantom Thief, but Ann had found herself enjoying the extra pressure. At first anyway.

To her surprise, she'd managed to secure one of the leading roles in the production, a turgid love triangle affair concerning a woman torn between her loving husband, Nobuyuki, and his enigmatic business partner Hiroki. It was often over the top, and both herself and the other cast members had enjoyed chewing the scenery perhaps a little more than necessary in their rehearsals. All in all, Ann had been having a blast.

Until the time came to run through the final scene.

It was typical dramatic faire, her character realizing that the mysterious young man she'd met only a week prior was the love of her life and rushing to catch him before he boarded a plane to the USA, never to be seen again. The entire thing was supposed to end with a passionate kiss as a storm began to rage around them. Which was where the problem lay.

Her co-lead was a third year, and a perfectly nice guy. But every time their lips met for that final kiss, Ann's body recoiled instinctively. The very first time they'd practised the scene, Ann had actually gagged, having to come up with a white lie on the fly about having had some out of date melon rolls for her lunch in order not to hurt his feelings.

The problem was that it never stopped happening. Thankfully, she'd managed to turn her body's way of expressing immediate revulsion from retching to a somewhat more acceptable flinch, but it was still rather noticeable up on the stage and it completely destroyed the mood of the final scene.

“I really don't know what to do about it.” Ann threw the back of her hand over her eyes, replacing the darkness of her bedroom with pitch black instead.

“Is it something about your co-star that makes you not want to kiss him?” Shiho's voice came from her phone as Ann settled herself in bed. She'd patiently listened to her explanation of the situation with the play, but wasn't sure what she could really do to help.

“I don't think so?” Ann said, thinking about him, “I don't not like him. I don't really know him outside of the play honestly, and I don't have trouble with any of our other scenes together. Just this one.”

“This is the only scene in the play where you have to kiss him though,” Shiho responded, to which Ann had no comeback for. It was definitely the kiss that was the issue, but Ann was at a total loss as to why.

“I think,” Shiho said, after a brief silence, “that having a bad reaction to kissing someone you're not completely comfortable with is quite understandable, given the kind of year you've had.”

It made a lot of sense. Given the kind of year they'd both had, really. She didn't doubt that one day, she'd probably need to be on the opposite side of a conversation very similar to this for Shiho. Before her mind could dwell too much on it though, her friend continued to speak.

“I know that sometimes, people who perform use visualisation techniques. Have you thought about thinking of someone you are comfortable with for that particular scene? One of your friends maybe?”

“That's an...interesting idea. But I think my brain would find it pretty hard to start imagining someone else, in a situation where I'm already supposed to be acting as someone else, with someone else doing the exact same thing, you know?”

“Then, could you get them to do some scene reads with you? Like, if you get used to doing the scenes with them, it could make the whole thing easier.”

“I don't know...” Ann thought about it. It was a ridiculous notion really. Think about kissing someone like Ryuji or Haru while she was acting? But maybe it was crazy enough to work, and she wasn't exactly overflowing with other options.

“I'll think about it,” she said finally, before moving the conversation along. Ann closed her eyes, listening to her best friend's voice as she slowly began to fall asleep. A bizarre image came to mind of her pressing a dainty kiss against Morgana's wet nose as a storm raged around them, and she snorted slightly, but Shiho said nothing. The other girl was likely as close to drifting off as she was, and it wasn't uncommon for them to both fall asleep on these late night calls.

Ann's last thought before she slipped away was that'd she'd do some asking around tomorrow afternoon.

“Uhhh, you're joking right?”

Ryuji didn't look up from where he was furiously scribbling on a worksheet, tongue stuck between his teeth as he glanced at another one next to it. 

Ann had come to find him before classes started the next day, hoping to quickly get a practise scene partner so she could start working on the problem right away.

“I'm being serious. I need someone to help me with the final scene for this play or I'm gonna look like a total fool on stage in a couple of months. Will you help me?”

There was no response except the rapid movement of Ryuji's wrist.

“I'll do all your homework for a week if you say yes?”

That got an answer, though not one Ann was looking for as Ryuji briefly paused in his work to glance up and raise a sceptical eyebrow at her.

“No thanks, if anything my maths grades would probably be lower if I let you take care of that stuff for me.”

Damnit. She couldn't even really get angry with him for that, given her recent exam scores. Instead she huffed and turned on her heel, marching back to her own classroom and leaving him to his panic. She'd just ask one of the others.

A quick message to Yusuke in her first class yielded another negative response, as did a message to Haru in her second. Futaba was an automatic no, as Ann didn't doubt that the other girl would find the situation just as uncomfortable as Ann found her own predicament. She knew that Akira would volunteer if asked, but Ann was certain that his own workload was just as heavy as hers, if not more so, if the dozens of other favours he often took on were any indication. No, she'd leave him out of this particular dilemma.

That left just one more person she could possibly ask to help her.

She'd purposefully left Makoto until last, as she was the one person most likely to say no. Now she was Ann's only hope, and it was with great trepidation she passed a copy of the playscript over to her. Watching as she flipped through the pages and read the lines.

“It's only really the last scene I need help with,” Ann said, her voice seeming unnaturally loud in the student council room. She thanked her lucky stars that none of the other members were here.

Makoto thumbed through until she reached the end, her eyes widening slightly as she took in exactly what was being asked of her.

“There's absolutely no one else you can ask?” she said after a moment, deliberately closing the script and placing it on the desk before her.

“I've already asked the others, bar Futaba. And they've all said no.”

“I'm not much of an actor,” Makoto mumbled, “and I don't really think I'd be comfortable getting up on that stage, even in practise.”

Ann waved the idea away, “you wouldn't have to. I won't make you come to any of the rehearsals with me or anything. It's just some private readings so I can get through this dumb final scene. Really, we could do it anywhere else. Even in here since it's empty.”

Coughing into her hand, Makoto turned her head away. Ann could see she wasn't totally sold on the idea, but neither was she willing to deny what was a clear request for help.

“No, not in here please. Any of the other council members could walk in at any time. The more ideal locations would be either my apartment or yours.”

“Does that mean you'll help?” Ann asked, holding in a breath as she watched her friend's brief internal struggle.

“...yes. I'll help you.”

With a squeal of joy, Ann dashed to Makoto's side, hugging her tightly. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much! When can we start? Tonight? I could come to your place right? I'll even bring snacks!”

“T-tonight? I don't know, Sis might come home early and-”

But Ann would hear none of it. She was far too eager to get to work and nip this little bout of discomfort in the bud. She waved away Makoto's weak protests, setting a time to come around, and before the other girl could even get a word in, she'd breezed out of the student council room completely heedless of the upheaval in her wake.

The door slammed shut just as Makoto's forehead met the desk with a thud.

Later that evening, Ann found herself sat on the edge of Makoto's bed. Her legs swung back and forth impatiently as she watched her thumb through the script again, but she held off from hurrying her through the lines. Really, she'd already said that all she needed help with was the final scene, so she didn't get why Makoto insisted on reading through the entire play.

“I think,” Makoto shifted on her own seat, “it'd be a good idea if we read through a couple of these other scenes first? Just to...set the tone?”

Ann raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

“I don't really think I can help you relax if I'm not an effective scene partner, and I can't do that until I know more about this character you're cheating on your husband with.”

Well, when put that way...

“That makes sense I guess,” Ann shrugged, stretching her shoulders out as she stood, before flipping through her own script, “We could go over their first conversation then? They've seen each other before, but this is the first time they'll talk.”

Makoto nodded, finding the appropriate place before rising to stand next to Ann.

“It's lovely, isn't it?” Ann started, gesturing to the empty air. Once the production was up and running, they'd planned to have several pieces of artwork hung from a wire, to simulate an art gallery. Beside her, Makoto spared her a brief glance, before returning her attention to the empty space.

“She's caught between two moments. The death of her old life, and the birth of her new one. See how she's moments away from the cliff's edge? She walks towards the unknown, but has everything she needs in her hands.”

She looked left again, meeting Ann's blank stare, a soft smile on her face.

“Yes, it is lovely.”

Ann laughed, bowing slightly. 

“Sorry, you may be able to tell that I'm not much of an aficionado for the arts. Meanings are rather lost on me.”

“Nonsense.” Makoto's voice was low as she moved behind Ann, a hand at her waist guiding her to another 'painting'. Her skin felt warm where the pads of Makoto's fingers stayed pressed against her, the next lines of dialogue tying themselves up on her tongue.

“This painting for instance,” she continued, blind to Ann's sudden distraction, “tell me what you see.”

“It's ah...um, a man hung upside down? He doesn't seem unhappy about it though.”

“Look deeper. What could this represent?”

The hand at her waist became two, and she was keenly aware of how closely the body behind hers was pressed against her back. 

“Maybe...a new perspective? He's looking at the world differently, after all.”

She held in a gasp as Makoto leaned in further, pointing to some imaginary detail, “you see the anguish in his eyes though? Despite his smile? What do you think that could mean?”

Pausing, trying to recall the line, Ann whispered, “it's new. Unexpected. It could be either good or bad.”

“Good, very good.” Makoto's other hand left its position and she felt almost...disappointed at the absence? There was a pause, and she realised that they'd hit a point in the scene where Ann's on-stage husband would come to interrupt them.

Breaking the silence with a short laugh, Makoto fidgeted slightly. “Was that alright? He seems like one of those guys you see in host clubs, so I tried to play him a little like that.”

“It was great,” Ann said, the memory of the touches lingering, “my actual co-star tends to play him a little more distant, so it was an interesting change.”

They carried on with their abridged version of the production for a few more hours. Makoto didn't let up with her interpretation of Hiroki, a fact that found Ann growing increasingly flustered alongside her character. More than once she wondered if she was playing him so...sensually, on purpose.

Eventually, they made their way to the final scene, and Ann stopped them for a moment.

“Okay so, you have to imagine the atmosphere, we've skipped a couple of scenes where Hiroki isn't around: I've just left my husband after this huge argument, and I've chased you to the airport. There's this big storm happening too. It's pretty cool actually,” she gushed, smirking as she thought about how they'd managed to achieve the tumultuous weather conditions they'd needed, “we have this big sheet of metal that gets hit with a hammer for the thunder, and then for the rain we're pouring rice onto another piece- ah, I'm getting distracted.”

Makoto smiled, motioning for her to continue.

“So I catch up to you and confess my feelings. And then that's where the big kiss happens before the curtain falls.”

“And it's this kiss you need help with,” Makoto said, matter of fact, before she coughed and looked away again. Ann couldn't help but avert her eyes as well, feeling silly.

“We may as well start from the first line then,” she continued. Setting her script aside. Feeling her heart begin to thud loudly in her chest, Ann did the same.

“You're here, what's wrong?”

“I couldn't let you leave...not without telling you.”

Makoto took a step forwards, her eyes almost pleading. For a moment, Ann imagined she really was Hiroki, hoping, desperately needing her to say the words he longed to hear.

“Hiroki...I love you. I've loved you for as long as I can remember and I know you have to go but please...tell me you love me back.”

There was no need to imagine the echo of the thunder around her, as the thumping in her chest felt more urgent than any storm. Makoto took another step, and Ann wondered if she could hear it too.

“I've waited so long to her those words from you. I can't tell you how long.”

Between blinks almost, Ann felt Makoto's arms around her, and her body moved naturally. The height difference between them much less extreme than with her usual scene partner, Ann found herself having to dip her head downwards slightly. Warmth misted across her lips for the briefest second before they met, and then all Ann was aware of was the sensation of Makoto kissing her chastely.

For all purposes, the kiss was meant to be chaste, even if it didn't appear so to an audience. It was just a play after all. But in this moment, that felt incredibly wrong to Ann. Almost without thinking about it, she deepened the kiss, eyes shutting as she pressed forwards. Makoto responded in kind, and Ann imagined she could feel every ounce of longing that Makoto had channelled to play Hiroki taking hold of her now. 

In some way, she could imagine that same depth of passion her character carried for Hiroki fuelling her own actions, the intensity building as Makoto's tongue sought entrance, Ann nearly powerless to stop her lips from parting wider.

There was a raw heat like nothing she'd felt before. Yes she'd been kissed, but in all ways, they'd somehow felt lacking. She felt drunk, almost, as though she could lose herself in this sensation for hours. Makoto's mouth urged further at her own, and it was all she could do to match it, growing almost desperate to feel more.

Through the haze in her brain, she realised dimly that they should stop. They'd gone well beyond expectations for the scene. And though everything was telling her not to, she began to pull away. 

The action of retreat seemed to pull Makoto back to herself as well. She drew back, expression mortified.

“I...” She hesitated, opting for putting more distance between them. Ann took over, ignoring the sudden feeling of emptiness that no longer being in Makoto's arms brought.

“Well that was...a pretty good reading.”

“Ann I-”

“Anyway, I should be going.”

And before Makoto could say anything more, Ann was dashing through the apartment. Swiping up her shoes without stopping to put them on, the front door slammed shut before Makoto had even made it out of her bedroom.

Running for the last train was all Ann remembered from her trip home, mind in a whirl. The only concrete thing she could focus on was the feeling of absence that not being still back in Makoto's apartment, being kissed senseless, brought. It was only once she'd reached home, her own front door shutting behind her as she sank to the floor, that she realised she may have been a little hasty in rushing away. She pulled her phone from her pocket, checking for a message or even a missed call, but there was nothing.

“Ahh...what a mess.”

There was absolutely every temptation to just never bring it up again. Let what happened be a memory, and greet Makoto after school on Monday like nothing had ever happened. Once or twice on the way into the city suburbs, Ann thought of it, then thought better. That would just be acting as though either of them had done something wrong.

Really, it wasn't so much that they'd kissed that had bothered her. Ann was happy to be as intimate with her friends as comfort allowed, but the sudden intensity the kiss had taken on...for both of them, was definitely unexpected. Not bad, just unexpected.

She reached Makoto's apartment at around midday. She wasn't sure if her sister worked over the weekends, though if Makoto's allusions to being alone in her home were anything like what she suggested, she probably did. That thought was what she clung to on the elevator ride up, as her hand reached up to knock on the door, even as the door swung open to reveal Makoto, her face contrite.

Yeah, rushing away had definitely been the wrong thing to do. She winced, rubbing the back of her neck.

She gestured lamely to her bag. “Mind if I come in? I brought my script.” Surprised when Makoto stepped aside for her to enter. She did so gratefully, perching on the edge of the small couch in the living room.

“Sis is working again today,” Makoto said, “she won't be home until late, so we can practice in here. We don't need to be so close that way.”

“What if I...want to be close?” Ann said, unable to meet her eyes, “I didn't mean to run away like that yesterday. I was just surprised. Things got really heated.”

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take things so far,” Makoto replied, “really it was just going to be a short kiss, more of a peck on the lips, but then once we started I couldn't stop. I got completely carried away.”

“Carried away huh?”

The question had more of an effect than Ann intended. Makoto's shoulders hunched, her body leaning away slightly as she looked everywhere but at her.

“I wanted to say no at first, to your request for a scene partner. I've liked you, for more than a little while now I think. I really should have refused but...”

“I'm glad you didn't.” Ann said, the words leaving her mouth before she had time to register them. And it was the truth. She recalled how she'd felt yesterday with every touch Makoto had left behind, every subtle glance her way. Even if Makoto was just being committed to her character, it had all left an impression on her. And she'd found herself wanting more. She wanted to see more of this girl who'd reached so deeply, without even trying. The kiss hadn't just been an admission of feeling on Makoto's part, it had been an acceptance of them on hers, as well.

“In fact,” unfolding her copy of the script from her bag, Ann stood. Moving forwards intently until she was just a few paces short of her goal, “I was hoping we could re-read the scene again today. There are a few nuances I don't think we quite got, yesterday.”

“Nuances?” Makoto asked, jolting slightly as Ann placed her hands on her shoulders, willing her to relax.

“Mmhmm. It could take us a few hours to go over them properly.”

“Hours?” 

Ann bit back a smile, focusing on dissipating the tension from her frame. “That's right. It goes like this: 'I love you. I've loved you for as long as I can remember and I know you have to go but please...tell me you love me back.' You see how she's casting aside all reason, just to be with the person who's made her feel so passionately?”

Arms wrapped around her frame, and just as it had last night, Ann felt her heart quicken.

“I do,” Makoto said, “and I understand his response now: 'I've waited so long to her those words from you. I can't tell you how long.'” 

There was a moment, hesitant as a whisper, where Ann saw the uncertainty in Makoto's eyes. Unsure where the line between them and the characters lay. She knew there was only one way to show her.

Closing her eyes, she leaned forward. They met in the middle.


End file.
